US Patent # 7,012,168 Boron-based containment matrix
for the
storage or transmutation of long-life radioactive elements

US Patent # 6,442,226Accelerator-driven transmutation
of
spent fuel elementsVenneri, et al.Abstract -- An apparatus
and
method is described for transmuting higher actinides, plutonium
and
selected fission products in a liquid-fuel subcritical assembly.
Uranium may also be enriched, thereby providing new fuel for use
in
conventional nuclear power plants. An accelerator provides the
additional neutrons required to perform the processes. The size of
the
accelerator needed to complete fuel cycle closure depends on the
neutron efficiency of the supported reactors and on the neutron
spectrum of the actinide transmutation apparatus. Treatment of
spent
fuel from light water reactors (LWRs) using uranium-based fuel
will
require the largest accelerator power, whereas neutron-efficient
high
temperature gas reactors (HTGRs) or CANDU reactors will require
the
smallest accelerator power, especially if thorium is introduced
into
the newly generated fuel according to the teachings of the present
invention. Fast spectrum actinide transmutation apparatus (based
on
liquid-metal fuel) will take full advantage of the
accelerator-produced
source neutrons and provide maximum utilization of the
actinide-generated fission neutrons. However, near-thermal
transmutation apparatus will require lower standing inventories of
plutonium and higher actinides. Uranium, presently the largest
volume
constituent in nuclear waste, is fully utilized and not discharged
as
waste. Since no plutonium, higher actinides or fission products
are
present in the reconstituted fuel elements, the present processes
can
be used repeatedly. Since the performance of the existing reactors
is
not changed, full utilization of both thorium and uranium
resources is
achieved.

US Patent # 6,233,299Assembly for transmutation of a
long-lived radioactive materialWakabayashiAbstract -- A new
transmutation
assembly permits an efficient transmutation of a long-lived
radioactive
material (long-lived FP nuclides such as technetium-99 or
iodine-129)
which was produced in the nuclear reactor. Wire-type members of a
long-lived radioactive material comprised of metals, alloys or
compounds including long-lived FP nuclides are surrounded by a
moderator material and installed in cladding tubes to form FP
pins. The
FP pins, and nothing else, are housed in a wrapper tube to form a
transmutation assembly. The wire-type members can be replaced by
thin
ring-type members. The transmutation assemblies can be selectively
and
at least partly loaded into a core region, a blanket region or a
shield
region of a reactor core in a fast reactor. From a viewpoint of
reducing the influence on the reactor core characteristics, it is
optimal to load the transmutation assemblies into the blanket
region.

US Patent # 6,233,298Apparatus for transmutation of
nuclear
reactor wasteBowmanAbstract -- A subcritical
reactor-like apparatus for treating nuclear wastes, the apparatus
comprising a vessel having a shell and an internal volume, the
internal
volume housing graphite. The apparatus having means for
introducing a
fluid medium comprising molten salts and plutonium and minor
actinide
waste and/or fission products. The apparatus also having means for
introducing neutrons into the internal volume wherein absorption
of the
neutrons after thermalization forms a processed fluid medium
through
fission chain events averaging approximately 10 fission events to
approximately 100 fission events. The apparatus having additional
means
for removing the processed fluid medium from the internal volume.
The
processed fluid medium typically has no usefulness for production
of
nuclear weapons.

US Patent # 5,848,110Method and apparatus for
transmutation
of atomic nucleiMaenchen, et al.
Abstract -- The present
invention addresses the problems outlined above. An accelerator
based
on a combination of a high repetition rate high energy pulsed
power
supply (RHEPP) and a magnetically-injected anode plasma (MAP)
source
diode is used to provide pulsed particle beams having intermediate
energy (0.2-20 MeV) and average power levels of hundreds of
kilowatts
to megawatts. This will increase the rate of isotopic production
by 2-3
orders of magnitude over processes based on conventional
accelerators.
Any gaseous ion can be accelerated with this technology (proton,
deuteron, and helium beams are of special interest). This
capability
can be applied to transmute target nuclei selectively into desired
isotopes. RHEPP/MAP accelerators are also extremely power
efficient and
relatively small in size, making application of small units
practical
in, for example, major local or regional medical facilities.
Finally,
the use of relatively low beam particle energies reduces or
eliminates
the problem of undesired products and the subsequent generation of
radioactive waste. Although the invention is being discussed in
terms
of embodiment via the RHEPP/MAP system, any pulsed ion beam
generator
having sufficient ion kinetic energy and total average beam
current can
be used in the same manner.

US Patent # 5,160,696Apparatus for nuclear
transmutation
and power production using an intense accelerator-generated
thermal
neutron fluxBowmanAbstract -- Apparatus for
nuclear transmutation and power production using an intense
accelerator-generated thermal neutron flux. High thermal neutron
fluxes
generated from the action of a high power proton accelerator on a
spallation target allows the efficient burn-up of higher actinide
nuclear waste by a two-step process. Additionally, rapid burn-up
of
fission product waste for nuclides having small thermal neutron
cross
sections, and the practicality of small material inventories while
achieving significant throughput derive from employment of such
high
fluxes. Several nuclear technology problems are addressed
including 1.
nuclear energy production without a waste stream requiring storage
on a
geological timescale, 2. the burn-up of defense and commercial
nuclear
waste, and 3. the production of defense nuclear material. The
apparatus
includes an accelerator, a target for neutron production
surrounded by
a blanket region for transmutation, a turbine for electric power
production, and a chemical processing facility. In all
applications,
the accelerator power may be generated internally from fission and
the
waste produced thereby is transmuted internally so that waste
management might not be required beyond the human lifespan.

US Patent # 6,738,446System and method for radioactive
waste destructionVenneri, et al.Abstract -- A method for
transmuting spent fuel from a nuclear reactor includes the step of
separating the waste into components including a driver fuel
component
and a transmutation fuel component. The driver fuel, which
includes
fissile materials such as Plutonium.sup.239, is used to initiate a
critical, fission reaction in a reactor. The transmutation fuel,
which
includes non-fissile transuranic isotopes, is transmuted by
thermal
neutrons generated during fission of the driver fuel. The system
is
designed to promote fission of the driver fuel and reduce neutron
capture by the driver fuel. Reacted driver fuel is separated into
transuranics and fission products using a dry cleanup process and
the
resulting transuranics are mixed with transmutation fuel and
re-introduced into the reactor. Transmutation fuel from the
reactor is
introduced into a second reactor for further transmutation by
neutrons
generated using a proton beam and spallation target.

AU2001297883Method and apparatus for the
transmutation of nuclear waste with tandem production of tritium
Inventor: EL-SHARAWY EL-BADAWY A

NL1031962Energy generating process for
producing electricity, comprises electron discharge in flow of
nitrogen
or air in order to cause nuclear transmutation of nitrogen into
carbon
monoxide Inventor: GEUS ARIE MELIS
DE

US2007297554Method And System For Production
Of
Radioisotopes, And Radioisotopes Produced Thereby
Inventor: LAVIE EFRAIM [IL]
;
SILVERMAN IDO

US2004047443Electron capture by magnetic
resonanceInventor(s):
BONDOC
EDWIN L [PH]Also published as:
WO03019219 (A1) Abstract -- The process of
capturing
electron by subjecting proton to magnetic resonance until its
magnetic
moment is in opposite direction relative to the electron's
magnetic
moment. As soon as the particles' magnetic moments are opposite
in
direction, spinlocking technique is applied for a period of time
to
induce transmutation of the particles and the consequent
reactions of
the product with an adjacent particle or a group of particles
and the
release of energy.